EVENT UPDATES

Elio Fox has won the first bracelet of the 2018 World Series of Poker after beating a field of 243 to take down Event #2: $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty for $393,693.

This was the first year this particular format has been included in the WSOP schedule and 2011 WSOP Europe Main Event winner Fox made light work of a final table which featured two-time bracelet winner Paul Volpe, Alex Foxen and former Main Event champion Joe Cada.

Position

Name

Country

Payout

1

Elio Fox

United States

$393,693

2

Adam Adler

United States

$253,343

3

Paul Volpe

United States

$169,195

4

Danny Wong

United States

$119,659

5

Charles Johanin

United States

$86,096

6

Alex Foxen

United States

$63,042

7

David Eldridge

United States

$46,993

8

Taylor Black

United States

$35,671

9

Joe Cada

United States

$27,582

"There was such a big field," said Fox shortly after his victory, "And I think there was a good mixture of pros and recreational players. I think doing turbos is great because it's good for non-professional players who can finish an event quickly.

"Bounty turbo formats appear a lot online, so I've definitely played it a lot, but I think it's a great addition to the WSOP schedule."

The turbo nature of the event meant that stacks were shallow throughout the latter stages, and there were some pivotal moments at the final table, including while five-handed where a double knock-out meant Fox soared into the three-handed chip lead.

"It put me in a really good situation three-handed, having more chips than Paul. It meant I could play a lot of pots and put pressure on him, especially with the payout structure. And he was forced to fold a lot because of the short stack, so it definitely swung things in my favour."

Fox eliminated Volpe and held a 7:1 chip lead heads-up, but an early double from runner-up Adam Adler meant that Fox wasn't home and dry just yet.

"Heads-up with shallow stacks is something I've played a lot before, but not for a little while so I felt a bit rusty. Anything could happen with such short stacks; I didn't feel extremely confident that I was going to win after he doubled up, and I was just really happy to do so!"

Elio Fox

Event Recap

No one was quite sure how many players would turn up for the first open event of the 2018 World Series of Poker, but the big names were out in force not only in order to take advantage of the early levels, but to try out a brand new event on the WSOP schedule.

14-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth joined the field shortly before the end of the first level, and he was joined by reigning WSOP Player of the Year Chris Ferguson and former Main Event winners Joe Cada, Jonathan Duhamel, Ryan Riess, Joe McKeehen and Qui Nguyen. Multiple bracelet winners Adrian Mateos, Kristen Bicknell, Brian Yoon, Erik Seidel and 888poker Team Pro Dominik Nitsche also featured.

The early chip lead was with Rafael Bertani who eliminated a player in the first level of the day to move over 100,000 in chips. He was soon joined by Duhamel and Alan Mastic. With each player holding a $3,000 bounty, the action was frantic with Talal Shakerchi among the players to send multiple players to the rail in one hand, after the British player flopped the nut flush.

Bartani was still busy acquiring bounties of his own as he moved past the 200,000 mark with some ease. Bryn Kenney also dispensed of two opponents to move up the chip counts, and after Kenney eliminated 2016 Main Event champion Nguyen, he moved into the outright chip lead.

The likes of Fedor Holz,Rainer Kempe, Liv Boeree, Steffen Sontheimer and Joe McKeehen would follow them out the door as the field rapidly shrunk until we were approaching the money bubble.

A total of 37 places were paid, with a min-cash worth $10,192 in addition to any bounties won. By the time the tournament was nearing the bubble, Kenney was still among the chip leaders but so was Fox.

The bubble burst with two clashes between Manig Loeser and Taylor Black. First, Black doubled through the German when his ace-king held against the king-four of his opponent. Then, Loeser ran queens into the ace-king of Black. The flop was safe, but an ace on the turn meant that Loeser missed out on a cash.

Paul Volpe lead by this stage, with almost a third of the chips in play with six players remaining. Coming into this year's WSOP, Alex Foxen had two career WSOP final tables, both coming last year in the $1,000 and $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em (30 minute levels) events, where he finished 3rd and 8th respectively. Here, in another turbo format, Foxen would have to settle for sixth place after he was eliminated by Fox.

By that time, Fox had caught up with Paul Volpe at the head of the pack, and Fox would proceed to grab a stranglehold of the tournament when he eliminated both Charles Johanin and Danny Wong in the same hand to hold more than half the chips in play. Fox would then move on to eliminate Volpe and hold a 7:1 chip lead heads-up.

Adler would secure a vital early double during heads-up play, but Fox moved back into the chip lead and the next time the chips went in the middle, he took down the title, the bracelet and over $300,000 in prize money.

Thursday, May 31, 2018 3:37 AM Local Time

Adam Adler Eliminated in 2nd Place ($243,323)

Adam Adler raised to 600,000 on the button, Elio Fox three-bet shoved and Adler directly called it off.

Adam Adler:
Elio Fox:

"Classic race!" quipped Fox.

The board ran out to end the tournament and make Elio Fox the first WSOP bracelet winner of the 2018 series!

"Nice hand," Adler said as he shook his opponent's hand. The American walked away with $243,323 in prize money, surpassing his previous best of $161,768.

Elio Fox

12,100,000

4,100,000

Adam Adler

0

-4,100,000

Thursday, May 31, 2018 3:32 AM Local Time

Fox Back into the Lead

Elio Fox raised to 480,000 and Adam Adler called. The flop of was checked by both players and the turn was the .

Adler checked and Fox bet 650,0000. Adler called. The river was the and Adler checked again. Fox announced a bet of 1,600,000 and Adler called.

Fox showed for two pair, and took down the pot.

Elio Fox

8,000,000

2,730,000

Adam Adler

4,100,000

-2,730,000

Thursday, May 31, 2018 3:21 AM Local Time

Level 32 started

Level:

32

Blinds:

120000/240000

Ante:

40000

Thursday, May 31, 2018 3:19 AM Local Time

Adler Takes the Lead

Adam Adler raised to 600,000 and Elio Fox defended. Both players checked the flop. Fox bet 750,000 on the turn and Adler called.

The river was the and Fox shoved all in, which Adler snap-called for 2,090,000.

Elio Fox:
Adam Adler:

Another double-up for Adler, who has claimed the chip lead for the first time in this tournament.

Adam Adler

6,830,000

3,330,000

Elio Fox

5,270,000

-3,330,000

Thursday, May 31, 2018 3:14 AM Local Time

Adler Doubles Up

There hasn't been much play heads-up, with both players exchanging uncalled all-ins. That was until Elio Fox moved all in and Adam Adler announced call for his last 1,705,000.

Adam Adler:
Elio Fox:

"That's not good," said Fox.

The board ran out with Adler taking down the pot.

Elio Fox

8,600,000

-2,000,000

Adam Adler

3,500,000

2,000,000

Thursday, May 31, 2018 3:12 AM Local Time

Paul Volpe Eliminated in 3rd Place ($169,195)

Paul Volpe shoved from the button and Elio Fox called in the small blind without much hesitation.

Paul Volpe:
Elio Fox:

The board ran out - Fox hit two pair on the flop and Volpe hit his second pair on the turn. Volpe needed another 8 on the river to survive but the jack wasn't that and Volpe was sent to the payout desk to register his third-place finish for tonight.

Elio Fox opened to 320,000 from the cutoff. Danny Wong three-bet all in from the small blind for 2,800,000 and Charles Johanin moved all in for 600,000 from the big blind.

"I call," said Fox, putting two players at risk.

Elio Fox:
Danny Wong:
Charles Johanin:

Johanin looked poised to triple up and ladder, but the spelt danger as it gave Fox a flush draw. In the end, he didn't need it because the turn gave him the lead. Wong was drawing dead, but Johanin could still hit a jack. The river was the and both Johanin and Wong were eliminated.

Charles Johanin

Elio Fox

7,500,000

4,500,000

Danny Wong

0

-2,050,000

Charles Johanin

0

-1,250,000

Thursday, May 31, 2018 2:49 AM Local Time

Volpe Wins One

Paul Volpe completed his small blind and Elio Fox opted to check the big blind.

The flop came on which they both checked through to the on the turn. Volpe now bet 180,000 and Fox called after considering it for a while.

The river completed the board with the , Volpe continued with another bet but now for 700,000. Fox thought about it for a while but then folded.

Volpe laughed at his rail.

"You got me?" Fox asked Volpe.

"Nah" Volpe replied.

"Ah, your smile..." Fox remarked.

"Ah no, it was my rail. They did something and I laughed." Volpe explained.

Elio Fox

3,000,000

-900,000

Paul Volpe

2,400,000

-1,000,000

Thursday, May 31, 2018 2:42 AM Local Time

Level 30 started

Level:

30

Blinds:

80000/160000

Ante:

20000

Thursday, May 31, 2018 2:41 AM Local Time

Alex Foxen Eliminated in 6th Place ($63,042)

Left on fumes, Alex Foxen waited for one more hand before committing his final 45,000 to the pot. Paul Volpe raised to 280,000 on the button, Elio Fox three-bet to 1,050,000 in the small blind and Volpe gave it up.

Alex Foxen:
Elio Fox:

Fox finished what he had begun and knocked out his namesake after a rundown. The rising American star added another big five-figure score to his poker resumé.

Elio Fox

3,900,000

560,000

Paul Volpe

3,400,000

-300,000

Alex Foxen

0

-85,000

Thursday, May 31, 2018 2:33 AM Local Time

Fox Over Foxen

Elio Fox shoved all in from the under-the-gun position and Alex Foxen, on the button, asked for a count. The dealer counted Fox' stack and confirmed that Fox was all-in for 1,520,000 in total. Foxen called with the slightly bigger stack.

Elio Fox:
Alex Foxen:

The board ran out - Fox' pocket pair of jacks held and he doubled up.

Elio Fox

3,340,000

1,740,000

Alex Foxen

85,000

-1,365,000

Thursday, May 31, 2018 2:22 AM Local Time

Level 29 started

Level:

29

Blinds:

60000/120000

Ante:

20000

Thursday, May 31, 2018 2:07 AM Local Time

Break

Players are going on a 20-minute break.

Thursday, May 31, 2018 2:06 AM Local Time

Adler Doubles Through Fox

Elio Fox shoved all in from the small blind and was called by Adam Adler in the big blind with the shorter stack.

Adam Adler:
Elio Fox:

The board ran out - no help for Fox and he had to pay Adler 1,315,000 for the double-up.

Adam Adler

2,720,000

1,820,000

Elio Fox

1,600,000

-1,300,000

Thursday, May 31, 2018 2:05 AM Local Time

Fox Gets Value

Danny Wong raised to 200,000 in early position and Elio Fox defended his big blind. Both players checked the flop and turn. Fox bet 200,000 on the river and Wong called.

Fox tabled for jacks with an ace and Wong mucked.

Elio Fox

2,900,000

400,000

Danny Wong

2,050,000

-450,000

Thursday, May 31, 2018 2:02 AM Local Time

Level 28 started

Level:

28

Blinds:

50000/100000

Ante:

15000

Thursday, May 31, 2018 1:57 AM Local Time

Fox Doubles Up

Paul Volpe limped and Elio Fox checked his big blind. Volpe bet 100,000 on the flop and Fox called. The turn was the and Volpe bet 285,000. Again, Fox called. The river was the . Volpe bet 515,000 and this time Fox folded.

Fox was left with 1,175,000 and the next hand he moved all in from the small blind and got called by Adam Adler in the big blind.

Elio Fox:
Adam Adler:

The flop came giving Adler a flush draw, but more importantly a pair to Fox. The turn was the and the river the meaning Fox doubled to stay alive.

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